Automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are continually improving quality at competitive cost and weight. Automotive assembly plants strive to improve productivity per production line worker in order to achieve a competitive edge. High speed production line rates may have cycle times of one minute or less. During each cycle, an operator may perform several tasks. Some of these tasks may include retrieving a part from a part bin/rack, retrieving appropriate fasteners from another part bin/rack, aligning and seating the part in the proper location, retrieving a fastening tool, and securing one or more fasteners to the proper torque. In addition, some or all of these tasks may be performed while the operator keeps pace with the vehicle as it moves along the assembly line.
Various drawbacks in performing these tasks may in some instances occur. For example, if the operator needs to hold the part in place while securing it, he/she may inadvertently drop the part while retrieving the fastening tool. In some cases, the dropped part may need to then be scrapped and replaced. Further, the operator may misalign the part while securing it to the vehicle. Another potential drawback is that it may become undesirably time consuming for the operator to choose between various fastening tools which may be necessary for various fasteners.
As such, it would be desirable to provide a component assembly which allows temporary hands free operation, aligns relatively easily, and may be secured by standard tools.